Heart for the City Marketing

Plan
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Marketing Plan: Final

Veronica Encinas, Amanda Strusienski

AET/552

2/12/2017

Joseph Walters

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Marketing Plan: Phase I

At any age the process of looking for a job can be intimidating, however, for a younger

person just starting out the process can seem overwhelming. Many younger people may not

know where to begin to look for a job. The process of interviewing and resumes are much like a

foreign language. Heart for the City wants to help ease the process for the younger generation

and has created a class to prepare them with the necessary skills needed to find employment. By

the end of the class students will be equipped with the necessary tools to create a resume,

understand the importance of a resume, and how to create a resume to fit a specific job. and in

life.

Organization and its History

Heart for the City works to help young inner city adults prepare and succeed in

employment opportunities. Heart for the City was founded by a Young Adult Pastor Mr. Joe

Enriquez in 2007. Mr. Enriquez believes no matter what side of the tracks kids are born on each

one should have a chance to succeed. His passion is for the less fortunate inner city kids and he

believes that changing one childs life can change an entire generation. This is what led him to

start this organization. Pastor Joe understood the challenges faced by most inner city youth,

many of them live in homes without fathers and that this youth receive little direction. Many of

these children will eventually drop out of school in order to help support his/her family. Pastor

Joe wanted to make a difference and after 4 years serving as a Pastor for a non-denominational

church he started the non profit organization that is Heart for the City. Pastor Joe wanted to help

make a change within the community as a whole and decided to start with helping the youth of

the neighborhood. He knew that by starting with the kids he would be able to impact the families

and potentially make changes for generations to come.

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The goal of the organization is to reach out and help to change the lives of inner city

(barrio) kids and families for now and future generations. It is through the use of sports that

Heart for the City started to help develop healthy patterns with the kids and was able to develop

relationships with families within the barrio. The organization started by offering free sports

programs to the youth. Most had not had the opportunity to play organized sports because of the

financial impact it would have on their families.

Heart for the City coaches offer more than coaching on the field, they are mentors and

focus on supporting the kids every step of the way. They help give them the tools they will need

to overcome the struggles and pressures that come along side living in the inner city.

Additionally, they have been able to build trust and offer spiritual and emotional advice as

needed. In turn many of the children involved with Heart for the City programs have begun to

change their outlook on life and have been able to do better in school. Soon many of the kids

involved with the program started to graduate from high school at higher rates and started

college. Many of the kids stayed involved with the program and became mentors themselves. It

has become a cycle of helping youth to bring change in wanting to help the youth coming up.

With the success of the sports programs Heart for the City has since expanded to help the

community, by not only offering free sports programs for the youth but also offering mentorship

programs, job opportunities within the organization and its affiliates; as well as high school and

college scholarship opportunities. In addition to this, there are various community programs for

families to participate in and gain support and resources. Heart for the city opened Java Grounds

to offer teenagers real on the job training and experience. It gives them the opportunity to learn

social skills and build a strong work ethic. The organization also offers after school and summer

programs for youth free of charge. This program offers children a safe and supervised place

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while parents are at work. It also helps to reduce the temptations from the streets such as gang or

criminal activities and drugs.

This organization is constantly trying to evolve in order to offer opportunities to all

members of the community and help all families that are in need. They have started hosting

various classes to assist in self improvement. The goal of Heart for the City when it began was

to help the inner city youth, and while that is still the organizations primary focus it has evolved

to help all members of the community.

The Stakeholders

Any organization must consider the external and internal stakeholders that are part of the

process and function of the organization. According to Business Dictionary, a stakeholder is (a)

person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization. Stakeholders can

affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies (Business Dictionary,

2017). In regards to Heart for the City the stakeholders range from the youth they help to the

parents, schools, and community members. Given this particular program being developed some

of the stakeholders are also employers within the community and higher education institutions

that the youth may attend or seek employment after graduation. The internal stakeholders are

those most connected to the organization, in this instance the youth, workers, and parents. The

external stakeholders are those marginally affected by the organization, for Heart for the City,

this would be the community members and employers. They would benefit most from the

students being successful employees and a working part of the community.

The Needs of Stakeholders

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Whether small or large, all organizations have stakeholders, once the stakeholders have

been recognized it is important to see the needs of these individuals/groups. This is in part

because they are depending on the outcome/results for the betterment of the organization. This

can be from financial gains to employment opportunities.

All organisations, no matter how big or small, will need to define, understand and

address the requirements of their various stakeholder groups. While it takes a

great deal of effort and expertise for organisations to satisfy these requirements, it

is essential to their long term success. (London School of Marketing, 2016)

In reference to Heart for the City the internal stakeholders have the most to gain or lose

from the success of the programs produced. The youth are the target audience and the ones that

have the most to benefit, their needs will be producing content that is applicable to their needs

and easily assessable for them. The parents will need to feel that this is a safe place that benefits

their children. They may even need incentives so they encourage their children to attend the

programs within this organization. Without meeting the needs of the parents and gaining their

support, the success of meeting the needs of the youth is slim. As already explained, Heart for

the City has found ways to interconnect parents and youth into the community through this

organization. However, if they are to continue with this process they must always assess the

needs of these individuals/groups.

The needs of the external stakeholders must be considered in what the benefits are for them

and how they will positively gain from the youth as employees or community members after

they have been in this program. For example, employers will want young people that have proper

resumes, and are able to interview well and be good workers. This would benefit their business

and profits, etc. The needs of community members will be the young people being a positive part

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of society and becoming an active member of the community. If the youth have the confidence to

go out into society and work they will be a positive part of the community.

Marketing Strategies

Environmental and contextual analysis tools are used to identify all the external and

internal elements ("Pestle Analysis," 2017). The environmental analysis is a strategic tool that

can identify all the external and internal elements that may affect the organization's performance

("Competitive Analysis," 2017). The analysis will assess the opportunities or threats that may

affect Heart for the Citys organization ("Competitive Analysis," 2017). A contextual analysis is

the first step of the planning project. An assessment will allow the organization to recognize any

threats or opportunities and allow the organization to align its strategies with its

environment ("Pestle Analysis", 2017). The analysis will look into political issues that could

affect the organizations tax-exempt status. Since non-profit organizations are not to engage in

political campaign activities, it is important that Heart for the City understands the rules and

issues associated with this rule in order not to lose tax exempt status. The organization can also

face economic issues such as loss of grants and donations. Heart for the City may also face social

factors such as changes in the neighborhoods the organization works in or decrease in

membership.

A competitive analysis is an analysis that will allow Heart for the City to determine what

makes their products and services unique and sets them apart from their

competitors ("Competitive Analysis", 2017). Currently, Heart for the City reaches out to inner

city youth. They also offer hands-on mentorship to most of the youth involved with the program.

The organization is constantly evolving to meet the needs of the families involved. The

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competitive analysis will look into the organization's strengths such as current staff dedication

and volunteers involved, etc. It will also look into the weaknesses of the organization such as the

size of the organization state and federal regulations, loss of grant funding, resources,

demographic area, etc. It will also look at the organization's opportunities such as corporate

donations and involvement, new grants, donations, notoriety, and demographics. It can also take

into consideration relationships the organization has built with businesses in the community. The

analysis will also look at threats to the organization such as competing for outreach programs.

Currently, Heart for the City does not have any competitors due to being a non profit

organization. However, the organization offers a few of the same outreach programs that

Chicanos Por La Causa offer. Heart of the city reaches out to inner city youth from the ages of 5

thru 24. Both organizations offer classes for parenting, after school programs and offer food

programs. Chicanos Por La Causa is a much larger organization and has been around for much

longer. The current strategy for the competitor according to their website is acting as an all-

encompassing organization for the underserved ("Chicanos Por La Causa ", 2017). They do so

by helping people become both politically and economically empowered. They provide services

to all members of the community from infants to seniors and reach out beyond the state and

include most states in the southwestern region ("Chicanos Por La Causa ", 2017).

Program objectives

Heart for the City has considered how this program will be best used for the learners.

This program will have objectives that students must meet in order to successfully pass the

program. The objectives have been selected as the key traits for learners to master in order to do

well in the job search process.

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1. Learners will show proficiency through completion of creating a resume and

cover letter.

2. Learners will demonstrate key strategies for interviews.

3. Learners will demonstrate networking skills by connecting with at least two

organizations/individuals within the career market.

4. Learners will show skills learned for tailoring resume to specific job

opportunities.

5. Learners will display abilities on how to look for employment opportunities.

Target market

Any company needs to be aware of their target market in order to better accomplish the

needs of their audience and to align the training/service better. Heart for the City will use this

program to work with students, so they have a chance at being a positive contribution to society.

Demographics

The demographics of these students are between the ages of 16-24, who have minimal to

no work experience. Many of these inner-city students come from single-parent homes, and they

need the training to give them the best opportunities for jobs and success in life.

Psychographics

Given the background of these students, the (their values, attitudes, etc.) plays an integral

part into how they will approach this program. To develop a successful program properly

knowing the key values, lifestyles, and needs of these students will aid in creating content that is

accessible and valuable to them. In order to market to them knowing the needs of these students

is important. Many of these students will either be finishing high school or out on their own.

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These young men and women have little to no experience creating a resume or attending a

professional interview. Their needs will be to be able to be marketable to get interviews with

local companies and to land jobs.

Behaviors

The students that partake in this program will display behaviors that show maturity and

integrity. With the average age of students ranging from 16-24 years of age, these students will

be considered young adults as opposed to youth. As such they will be expected to take the

program seriously and to exhibit behavior and a work ethic that aligns to those expectations.

Some of the class participants may have challenges due to both environmental factors and

behavioral challenges they may have come into the program. Participants have had to face

challenges other average students did not have to worry about such as one or both parents in jail,

homelessness, and some have had to deal with the effect of gang activity. However, Heart for the

City also offers resources such as counseling and peer mentors. The mentor-ship program of the

organization spends time both on organization premises and off. Many of the mentors were once

mentee's of the program and remained involved in the organization. Each student will be

provided with different resources to assist the students as needed so they have as equal of an

opportunity as other students that may not have said challenges.

Since these students are from their inner city, there is a likelihood that they will want and

or need to get jobs that keep them closer to home. This may be from responsibilities with family

members or lower economic income which would prevent them from traveling far for

employment opportunities. Also depending on where they are located there may not be viable

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employment opportunities so learning available bus routes, or alternative transportation may be

an essential part of the training as well.

Value and selling point

The value of this program is it will assist students in learning the employment and job

seeker process. Through this program, students will be more marketable for employment and for

being contributing members of society. The uniqueness of our program, as other youth programs

such as YMCA have similar resources, is that Heart for the City works to affect each student and

to work with them as the whole person, physical, spiritual, and mental.

Positioning or differentiation strategies

Positioning and differentiation are very closely related marketing strategies. Positioning

is your strategy for conveying what makes your company or products bigger, different or better

than those offered by competitors. Differentiation is essentially the way you carry out your

positioning by promotion distinct attributes or benefits that you offer (Kokemuller, n.d.).

What the positioning strategy Heart for the City will be using with this particular program

is to target the local 16-24 year-olds within the inner city of Phoenix. The main difference for

this program from others is the target of the whole person and connection to other resources the

organization has, such as JAVA grounds.

Program features

The features of this program will be to educate students on job seeking skills. Students

will be taught the importance of building a resume, and the skills on how to tailor the resume to

specific jobs to be more marketable. They will also be taught interview skills through role-play

activities. Additional features will be opportunities to network with local companies, and training

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on how to search and apply for jobs. The hope is students will complete this program better

prepared to find and land a job.

Marketing Plan

Heart for the City has created a program to help young men and women from the inner

city between the ages of 16-24 learn the ins and outs of creating a resume, along with how to

conduct themselves during a job interview. This program is aimed to help these underprivileged

young adults gain the confidence needed to get out into the job market. Currently, many of these

young men and women do not have anyone to help them create a resume or walk them through

what to expect during a job interview. Some of them will be looking for their first job and have

never attended a job interview or created a resume. For some of these individuals a resume will

be hard to create since most do not have their own computer. Heart for the City wants to help

these young men and women learn more than creating a resume. The organization would like to

help these kids understand the importance of dressing well for the interview, how to properly

address interview questions, and how to put their best foot forward, as well as help them gain

confidence in themselves. During the course students will start by learning the key points needed

to create a resume as well as how to tailor it to fit the job they are looking to obtain. Students will

also learn how to properly conduct themselves during job interviews and how to network.

Creative Strategies

Some of the ideas for how to design and implement this program are to use

content that will be engaging and accessible for the students, who will range from, 16-24. Given

the resources available for Heart for the City much of the content will have to be paper,

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notepads, etc. However, some ways to make this content engaging will be using various role-

play scenarios and games for participants. Some examples of content delivery will include:

What to do and what not to do in job interviews.

Peer reviewing resumes and brainstorming group sessions to get ideas.

Post-it notes listing ideas from participants on the best way to write resumes or

interview for jobs.

Career surveys to get an idea what skills and abilities individual participants have

to see what types of jobs would be suitable for them.

Games with problem solving skills addressing topics such as:

o How to get to work,

o How to handle work

o Transitioning from youth into adulthood in the workplace.

Communication Methods

In order for this program to be successful the target audience or the youth that

attends or may attend Heart for the City need to be made aware of this program. Three avenues

for marketing have been selected to best inform the target audience about the program. Since the

target area is small one of the best ways to promote this program will be through flyers. These

flyers can be hung around the campus, within Java Grounds, and in the local schools in the

district. Another way to get these flyers out is sending the flyers to the local schools, school

counselors, and other inner-city youth programs. The key is to establish awareness about this

program to the public, and one way to do that is through connecting with the community, so that

they can learn about the company and programs offered. The more that people see you around

the community being involved in events, the more they are going to talk about you and your

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company (Root III, G. N., n.d.). Another option for marketing this program is through direct

response. Word-of-mouth can be an effective way of gaining new clients without investing too

much in new marketing programs(Root III, G. N., n.d.). Word of mouth is a powerful tool and

can often create more marketing opportunities than any other resource. This is mainly because

individuals will trust a neighbor, friend, or parents recommendation or suggestion over any

other marketing strategy, etc. Personal experience and testimony will be a beneficial tool,

especially in promoting this program to the target audience. In modern marketing techniques

using social media is another great resource for free advertising that can reach a target audience

near or far. Since the founder of Heart for the City, Pastor Joe uses social media such as Twitter,

sending out blurbs for this program on social media will be beneficial to not only promote the

program but to raise awareness to the public the variety of programs Heart for the City is

offering to its demographic.

Budget

The organization has applied for Walmarts community grant program that offers $2,500.

Because Heart for the City is a faith based organization and has a tax-exempt status it meets the

qualifications for the grant. The grant outline also stipulates the grant must be used to help the

community. The class program meets these requirements and will be used strictly for the benefit

of the students involved in the program to allow the organization purchase tools necessary to

carry out the class. Grant application can be located at http://giving.walmart.com/walmart-

foundation/community-grant-program

The grant will be used to help cover the cost of

Snacks/food for the students estimated at 500.00

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Salaries for instructors and directors of $500.00 total

Supplies for students $300.00

Vouchers for the students in need of assistance for clothing for job interview $1,200.

Evaluation

In order to gain insight into the success or failure of this program an evaluation must be

conducted. This will be done through a paper survey and will be given to participants the last day

of class. Towards the end of the class the survey will be distributed and participants will hand in

the survey before they leave the class. This survey will consist of 10 short essay questions

assessing the profitability of the program, what students thought were the highlights, and what

are some suggestions on how to improve.

The marketing team will look over the answers from students and decide what, if

anything, needs to be changed for future versions of the program. Also, a follow-up survey will

be sent to all participants every six months for a year after the program to gather the long-term

success and whether or not students were able to find employment. This survey will ask

information on the work status, employers, and field of which students are working in, if they

have found work.

Through this information collected it should guide the marketing team on the viability of

the program and how it has benefited Heart for the City and the community.

References

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Business Dictionary . (2017). Retrieved from

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/stakeholder.html

Chicanos Por La Causa . (2017). Retrieved from https://www.cplc.org/AboutUs

Competitive Analysis. (2017). Retrieved from

https://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/competitive-analysis

Glendale Star. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.glendalestar.com/features/article_72325c56-

7f11-563a-8e1b-b082e5330b99.html.

Kokemuller, N. (n.d.). Small Business . Retrieved from

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/positioning-differentiation-strategies-marketing-
69264.html

London School of Marketing . (2016). Retrieved from

http://www.londonschoolofmarketing.com/blog/bid/360192/Defining-understanding-and-
meeting-the-needs-of-stakeholders

PESTLE Analysis. (2017). Retrieved from http://pestleanalysis.com/what-is-environmental-

analysis/

Root III, G. N. (n.d.). Small Business. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/word-

mouth-marketing-strategies-3225.html

Walmart Foundation. (2016). Retrieved from http://giving.walmart.com/walmart-

foundation/community-grant-program

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